Stranger
by TheReaders
Summary: Ciara is a normal girl. Loves to hike and loves the outdoors. But something happens and she lands up in Dar's world.
1. Chapter 1

Stranger

Disclaimer: I do not own Dar, Tao, any place in the TV show or any characters from the TV show. I do own Ciara and her friend introduced later in the story, Eric.

A/N: I've only seen a couple of the episodes but I do know the main points. Just bear with me. Oh, and by the way she comes to Dar's realm is in the book The Divide.

Chapter 1: Where is here?

Ciara woke lying on the cold hard ground. All she could remember is falling and a tight squeeze and then black. She sat up and looked around. She was in a forest. She was lying on the leaf litter under the trees. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt under a sweatshirt. Then she remembered what happened. She was hiking to the divide in the mountains were she was spending a week camping. She was alone and she had tripped. _But that doesn't explain why I'm here_. She got up and retrieved her backpack, which held food and water as well as a survival pack. She started walking. Being an expert hiker she kept an eye out for danger or a good campsite. She walked for hours without meeting any people or animals. Suddenly her head exploded in pain. She sat and waited for the headache to go away. She made a scramble for the aspirin in her bag, but the headache went away a second later. _That's weird._ She started walking again and didn't worry about the strange occurrence she just had. Soon she found some ruins that looked like a good shelter for the night. She got out her survival blanket and made a small fire. The fire would keep any animals at bay and it would provide her with warmth. She soon fell asleep. In the morning she got up and cleaned up the campsite and started walking. Her water supply was running low and she needed to find a stream. Keeping an ear out for the sound of running water she kept going. It had been a few hours when she finally heard water gurgling. She ran towards it and almost fell down a canyon. The river was at the bottom of it. There was a loud crack and the rock underneath her feet broke. She scrambled for a grip on the wall of the canyon. About twelve feet down she got a grip on the wall. She hung there trying to get her breath back. Calmly finding places were she could set her feet she remembered the lesson her father had taught her about rock climbing.

_'Try it. I've got you. Don't worry,' her father called up to her. She was about half way up and she had stopped and looked down. She gathered her fear and continued on. When she was safely on the ground her father had given her some tips on climbing._

"Never climb without an anchor or rope," she said out loud, "Yeah right."

She stared at the rock in front of her so as not to look down. She took a few deep breaths to keep her calm. The she looked up at her goal. It seemed farther than it really was. She gulped down the uneasy feeling and started to climb. She tested every foot and hand hold. A few times rock shook loose and rolled down to her. She kept going. Her body was tight with fear. She was almost to the top of the cliff when she heard voices. They were coming towards her and they were rushed and excited. Hope lanced through her body as the voices kept coming. Suddenly the orange head of a tiger peered over the edge. She was so surprised she almost let the cliff go. She watched the tiger with caution. That was when she felt a presence in her mind. She explored it.

'Hello,' came the greeting.

"Holy…" she said out loud.

Her mind recoiled from the presence. The tiger above stirred. Suddenly two people were peering over the edge. One was dark haired and the other had a light brown hair. Both were boys.

"Just hold on," called the brown haired guy, "we're coming to help."

"Got it!" she called back up.

The dark haired boy disappeared and returned with a rope. He lowered the rope to her. She grasped the rope and planted her feet on the wall. She started to climb and soon she was safe on the ground far from the cliff.

"Thanks," she said breathless.

The adrenaline rush had gone by now and she was exhausted. She finally felt sore in her arms. She took a good look at her rescuers. The fair haired guy was bare-chested, he was muscular, his face was kind and she trusted him instantly. The dark haired boy was thin but healthy. He had the face of a scholar and he was wearing a simple shirt and pants. His belt held a lot of pouches and some tools. Ciara noticed that she was cut in a few places were she had slid. She grabbed her backpack which she had the entire time and rummaged around for bandages and some ointment. The two looked at her warily. She took out the white plastic box with a large red cross on it. The two tensed and backed off. She looked at them in confusion.

"What's the matter? You look like you've never seen a first aid kit before," she asked.

The two stayed silent. Shrugging she opened the box and took out what she needed. She also took out some hydrogen peroxide. The scratches were mainly on her right arm and leg where she had slid. She poured on the hydrogen peroxide, the liquid bubbling at the wounds. She winced and prepared the bandages. As soon as she was done she put everything back and closed her backpack. The two relaxed and approached her.

"What's your name?" the brown haired boy asked.

"Ciara. Ciara Green. Yours?" she replied.

"I'm Dar. This is Tao, and this is Ruh," he said pointing to each in turn.

"What did you just do?" asked Tao.

"Basic first aid," she answered.

Tao looked at her with confusion.

"You've never heard of basic first aid? This place must be really isolated."

"No, the next town is a few miles from here," replied Dar.

"Actually the capital is not far from here," said Tao.

Ciara puzzled over this a minute. Then she came up with an idea.

"Are you Indians?" she asked.

"What's an Indian?" asked Dar.

Ciara looked at them dumbstruck.

"Am I in Yosemite National Park?"

"No, you're in the Mid-lands," said Tao.

A/N: please rate and message. I'm still new to this.


	2. Chapter 2

Stranger Chapter 2: Questions

"I'm where?" she asked again, her voice tensing with strain.

"You're in the Midlands," Tao answered again.

Ciara took a deep breath before she started to hyperventilate. Apparently she wasn't on planet Earth anymore, she was a geography major and she knew her stuff, she had never heard of any place called the Midlands before.

"So what is this first aid you spoke of?" asked Tao.

His questioned startled her a little, it broke her out of her panic as she tried to think of an answer that would satisfy the young man.

"Well…umm…it's what you…umm…you do first aid before a healer can look at them. It's like if you fell and broke your arm, I would apply first aid to stabilize the arm until we could get you to a healer to set it."

Tao's eyes went wide with wonder.

"How would you do it? Stabilize an arm I mean," he asked with great enthusiasm.

She looked to Dar as if to ask 'Does he do this all the time?', before answering.

"Well, you'd get two sticks long enough for the person's arm and you'd take some cloth and wrap the sticks to the sides of the arm so it doesn't move before tying the cloth to the body."

"And how does it work to stabilize it. I'm wondering how two sticks can do such an important job. I mean…"

"Tao," Dar interrupted, "I think you're overwhelming her."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just so interested in learning and figuring out new things about the world."

Ciara smiled.

"That's fine."

She looked around and realized something, she had no idea where she was or how she was going to return. She didn't know her way around here, she would need a guide and these guys were as good as any.

"Do you mind if I travel with you? I don't really know where I am."

Dar smiled and nodded.

"Sure."

As they were moving on the tiger Ciara saw earlier, Ruh, stepped in front of her, following Dar. She stopped right in her tracks. Tao and Dar looked at her.

"Ruh won't hurt you, he knows you're a friend," said Dar.

"Where I come from, tigers aren't known for being friendly."

Against her better instincts she walked on, keeping a close eye on the tiger. Dar walked on ahead while Tao and Ciara walked behind.

"You said 'my world' before. Am I to assume that this isn't the world you are from?" asked Tao.

"I am assuming that, it doesn't seem to surprise you."

"There is much here that is magical, it's not practical but its what happens. Getting someone from another world here isn't that strange."

"When I get home, no one's going to believe me when I say I visited another world."

"What is your world like?" asked Tao.

"It's not like here at all, at least that's what I can assume from the way you're dressed. From what I can tell, this world is still mainly based around stone and bone tools is that correct?"

Tao nodded and stayed quiet.

"Then my world would be a stretch for you to imagine. I am sure I could tell you a lot about my world but nothing you would hear from me will help you here, if anything you have more to teach me than I you."

That seemed to quiet Tao as they continued to walk. It was strange being here and Ciara was not comfortable with it at all. If anything she just wanted to run and hope that she was able to get home somehow, but her sense told her to stay with Tao and Dar. They were guides in this world and she would need them if she wanted to survive.

They walked for the rest of the day, Tao asking questions and Ciara answering some of them. Others she didn't say much and Tao quieted for a while knowing he was going a little too far. Dar was the one who stopped to set up camp. Ciara was grateful because she was getting winded, she was an avid hiker but with the terrain they were walking and the pace Dar set she was beginning to tire. Tao and Dar built a fire and Ciara helped where she could. Once the fire was crackling with life they all sat around it. Ruh, who had disappeared while they were walking all of a sudden came out of the bushes behind Ciara. She shot to her feet in surprise. Dar and Tao could only chuckle at her. Just because Dar and Tao were okay with Ruh didn't mean she was going to be okay with him for a while. Dar looked at Ruh, right in the eyes, it appeared as if they were having a conversation. Ciara got the chills up her spine as they were looking at each other, a tickle in her mind is how she would describe it. But the feeling soon passed and Ruh settled where Ciara just sat. She reclined where she was, staying as far away from the striped large cat as possible. Tao dug into his pack and pulled out a bit of what looked like camping gear and vegetables. He poured water from the gourd on his shoulder into a bowl like object and then put it over the fire. As the water heated he began to cut the vegetables as best he could.

"Here," said Ciara, "Let me."

He handed over the platter with the vegetables and knife he was using but she handed the knife right back, she was going to use hers. She dug into her pocket and pulled out her pocket knife. She learned her lesson when she had been lost in the woods for a week and a half with nothing but her bag and some rope. She unfolded the blade and began to chop up the vegetables. Tao was immediately by her side examining the blade.

"What is that?" he asked.

"It's a utility tool, it has a lot of different tools that I might need."

"It's so shiny, what is it made out of?" he asked.

"We would call it steel. You might understand it as metal or ore from the ground melted and shaped into a tool."

"I don't think I've ever seen this before have you Dar?" asked Tao.

The man shook his head as he watched Tao and Ciara. When she was done she cleaned the knife before putting it in her bag. She screamed in surprised though when two furry heads poked out from inside her bag. Dar and Tao couldn't stop laughing.

"Kodo, Podo that's where you two were hiding," said Dar.

The two little ferrets squeaked before going over to Dar.

"Sorry," Dar said, "They're curious little creatures. Hey, what's that you've got in your mouth Kodo."

Ciara looked closer and noticed it was a cashew. She looked in her bag and sure enough her trail mix had been opened. She chuckled and pulled out the bag.

"Would you like some?" she asked the other ferret.

The little creature straight over to her and took the nut out of her hand before looking in the plastic bag and going for a chunk of chocolate. She stopped him before he got too far.

"Oh, no, you can't have that," she said.

"What it is?" asked Tao.

"It's chocolate and its harmful to animals but we can eat it. Here try some."

She handed both Dar and Tao a piece of chocolate which they popped into their mouths.

"It's sweet and bitter at the same time," said Tao, "it's delicious. What else is in there?"

"Nuts and dried fruit," she answered.

She gave Kodo and Podo both a raisin before putting the bag back.

After they all ate Dar and Tao lay against some tree trunks to sleep. Ciara though couldn't. Her mind was filled with thoughts of how she had gotten to where she was and how she was going to get back. How was she going to fit into this world if she couldn't get back and what would her parents and friends think when she didn't return. She let her mind wander not bothering to calm her thoughts. When suddenly she heard a noise in the forest beyond the light of their fire.

Standing she looked around for a place to hide. She decided her best position would be in the tree above her. Grabbing her knife out of her bag she climbed the tree and perched on a branch and waited. She could see something moving just beyond the ring of trees they were sleeping in. Then she saw another and another and realized they were men, and they were armed, and they were coming right for the camp and a sleeping Tao and Dar.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Beastmaster, or any of its characters.

(A/N): This is set around the third season time period. I don't remember of Cuipira made it out of her prison or not so I am basing it off of that she never did. I am not basing this around any one episode to keep the original storyline and time period as they were in the show.

Ciara could tell that the men in the woods weren't friendly. The trick was how to alert Dar and Tao to the danger without letting the men in the woods know where she was. She looked around and found nothing within reach that would make enough noise to wake Dar and Tao without making too much at the same time. The men were creeping closer, they were going to be upon them any second. Just as she was about to give up and cry out she remembered something, she was wearing shoes. Not the soft soled things Tao and Dar were wearing, but hard soled boots. After hours of walking and moving around the boots had become loose, loose enough for her to kick off. She quickly wiggled her foot until the boot was nearly off before placing a not so well aimed kick to throw the boot closer to Dar and Tao. The crunch of rubber on leaves woke Dar, who looked around. He must have heard the racket the men were making in the woods because he quickly shook Tao who woke with a start.

Dar had just gotten hold of his weapon when the men burst into the clearing. Normally Ciara would stay away from fighting. But Dar and Tao were her only friends at the moment, and she really didn't feel like trying to explain herself to the men attacking them. So she jumped down and joined in the fray. She realized very soon that unarmed she wasn't much help. She rushed for her bag, where she had put her knife. The men were wielding roughly hewn bone axes and other similar rough weapons but that didn't mean she wasn't in danger. She reached her bag and fumbled with the clip. But she never got to her knife, she didn't need to. Ruh, who had snuck into the woods unnoticed, leaped into the clearing, batting away the nearest men with brutal force. Once the men saw the tiger they bolted, not wanting to deal with one of nature's deadliest creatures. Carefully Ciara took her hand away from her bag, but Ruh didn't seem to notice or care about her. Tao came over to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded and stood, her hands shaking with residual adrenaline.

"Who were they?" she asked.

"They looked to be King Zad's men," said Dar, "But for some reason I don't feel like they were his."

"What do you mean? They were all dressed like Zad's men, who else's could they be?" asked Tao.

"I don't know but I do know this spot is not safe for much longer."

So the three picked up camp and left the spot. For an hour or so they walked before they stopped again. As they lay down to sleep Ruh showed up. She hadn't realized the large cat had followed them. Although she was still wary of him she didn't move. The tiger looked at her for a moment and she felt a pressure in her head. She thought nothing of it as she lay her head down.

In the morning Ciara was awakened by Dar and Tao moving around. She was hungry and the smell of cooking food didn't help. As they ate she noticed Ruh had disappeared again, probably to go off and find food of his own.

"So, where are we headed?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"I think we should continue on to Xinca, we can at least get some information there about where some of my clan are."

"I will send Sharak on ahead."

"Sharak? Who is Sharak?" asked Ciara.

A sudden screech above her head made her look up. A large golden eagle was soaring just above the canopy of the forest.

"Oh."

The bird made one more pass before it flew off. Dar kept moving, focusing on getting to where they needed to be. Little did they know, they were hurrying into more chaos.

The sorceress looked down from her look out spot. Her long hair pulled back as always. This strange new human was a puzzle to her. She looked to be not of this world, but it felt as if a long missing puzzle piece had just found its way back to its proper place.

"Ancient One?" the sorceress asked.

"Yes, what is it?" asked the man.

"Who is this human?"

The old man looked and she saw him tense up the quickly relax.

"Well, this is interesting."

"What is?"

"This human female seems to be here to balance out the world."

"What do you mean Ancient One?"

"She is here to take the place of the demon that protected the forest, she will slowly learn the language of the forest and eventually she will pass and be reborn as the new protector, while the other demon is trapped."

"Is that good?"

"Not entirely considering the last one wasn't exactly a walk in the woods."

A few minutes after the eagle had flown off he returned. For a moment he and Dar communicated before Dar turned to them.

"We'll be okay if we don't draw any attention to ourselves. We should hurry, we don't want to be around Xinca longer than we have to."

Ciara and Tao nodded, although Ciara was a little hesitant. She did everything but blend in with the people here. She decided now was a good time to point that out.

"What about me? I don't exactly have a change of clothes that match here," she said.

The men looked to each other before Tao dug into his pack and pulled out a long cloak. She looked at the object with dismay. It was woolen and darkly colored; it was going to be hotter than hell in there. She sighed and took the cloth from Tao. As they moved closer and closer to the supposed city Ciara could see signs of industry; at least the kind that existed in this world. There were more 'roads' and some of the underbrush had been cleared to allow easier access. Tao stepped off to the side of the road all of a sudden and led them down a small hill. Hidden inside the root system of a tree he reveled a rolled up piece of parchment paper.

"My people aren't far, they're hiding in the deeper parts of the woods on the other side of Xinca, keeping an eye on Zad's men."

"How long will it take us to get there?"

"A day or two at most if you want to avoid the city all together. Less than a day if we go through."

"I say we go around," said Ciara.

Dar and Tao looked at her questioningly.

"I don't know about you but I would think it suspicious if someone was walking around with a cloak on in the middle of a hot day. Wouldn't you?"

They nodded. Tao wrote something on the paper before putting it back where he found it. They made it a good ways before making camp for the night. That night Ciara got little sleep. She kept waking to someone calling out something in the night. She thought it was coming from the forest; but Ruh, who had joined them when they made camp, never stirred and she was sure his hearing was better than hers. She also had a screaming headache, which didn't go away after the third aspirin. But as she laid down for the eighteenth time that night she thought she heard someone tell her goodnight: in her head.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer:

A/N: To Sci-Fi Christian, no offense taken. I haven't seen it in a while and I couldn't remember season three. Thanks for the feedback all. For now we're going to pretend that the Ancient One still exists. Well, here goes chapter 4.

This time Ciara woke before Tao and Dar a nervous feeling buzzing through her system. She set about stoking the fire awake and finding edible food, which was a challenge since she wasn't used to the flora of this world. Kodo and Podo however were more than helpful in finding food. When she returned Dar had woken up. He smiled when he saw the armful of food she had gathered, he set about cleaning it. Tao woke minutes later. As they ate Ciara thought, she needed this world's clothes and she needed them fast. But they weren't going to go into the city, and she was sure there were no malls around to go shopping. She looked at the cloak she had been wearing the day before; turning it this way and that.

"Do you mind if I tear this?" she asked.

Dar and Tao shook their heads, intrigued at what she was going to do. She retrieved the needle and thread she always carried with her in her emergency kit. First she tore the bottom of the cloth off to make two pieces of material. She put away the portion that would be the bottom. Then she sewed the opening in the front of the cloak closed before tearing the sleeves and the hood off of the shirt. She then went down to the river where they were getting water from and grabbed handfuls of mud and began rubbing them into her shorts to mask the color of them a bit more. She hid in a group of trees and changed into the shirt she had made, it wasn't comfortable but it made her look more like someone who belonged. When she returned she looked down at her feet and realized she would have to do something to her shoes. Tao fixed that by giving her a pair of his. Tao looked at her shoes with awe, inspecting them with a careful eye.

"How do they keep their shape?" he asked.

Ciara was baffled by the question, she had never thought about it. She shrugged.

"Its just the way they make it," she said.

Dar took the shoes and looked them over.

"How do people walk in these? You can't feel anything through the bottom," he questioned.

"You're not supposed to. It's to protect your feet from getting hurt if you step on something sharp. If you think those are hard to walk in you should see high heels."

Tao twisted his head in question. Ciara smiled and shook her head.

"Even if I explained you wouldn't understand," she explained.

"Try me," he said.

So for the next hour Ciara tried to explain the concept of high heeled shoes to Dar and Tao, who the whole time couldn't seem to grasp the concept. By the time they got moving again it was nearing noon.

The sun seemed to be more intense in Dar and Tao's world. Even under the canopy the air was stifling. She was glad she had made a better shirt for herself. Every now and then an animal would skitter away or fly off. Sometimes Dar would stop and talk to one of them. Then he would continue on as if nothing was off about his behavior, and Tao also acted like it was the most natural thing in the world. She could hear Kodo and Podo squeaking in her backpack where they had decided to take up residence for the day. They stopped for a short rest and Ciara dug in her pack for some nuts, but found that the little creatures had gotten into the bag and eaten them all. But she couldn't be mad at them, they were just too adorable for that. High in the air Sharak shrieked, sending the two ferrets into hiding. Dar looked up to his friend. As he sat there his face morphed into one of concern.

"What is it?" asked Tao.

"Something isn't right," came Dar's cryptic answer.

He continued to talk with Sharak. Ciara felt her stomach drop to her toes, what could be wrong. Were her animals alright?

Wait.

Her animals?

Ciara contemplated when she had started calling the animals, the _wild_ animals around her were hers. Soon though she was startled to her feet as Dar jumped to his and began gathering his things. She barely had time to collect her own before the group of three was tearing through the forest. When Dar finally slowed the only thing Ciara could do was ask:

"What the hell?"

Dar didn't notice her and looked around where he had paused. He stepped away and Ciara began to follow when Tao stopped her.

"What's the matter?" she asked him.

He shook his head and put a finger to his mouth to quiet her. When Dar returned he held the corpse of a faun. The sight of the limp body nearly made Ciara throw up. As it was she fell to her knees. She was used to seeing dead animals, just not ones so young. It made her want to cry.

"Who did this?" she asked through her teeth.

Dar and Tao looked to her, almost questioningly. Suddenly, for no reason, Ciara felt anger bubble from deep within her.

"Who would dare do this?" she asked again, her throat tense with anger.

"It looks like Zad's men. They were after the mother I guess," answered Dar.

"But they missed and killed this one instead," finished Tao, "So what do we do?"

"Leave it," answered Dar, "Let nature take over."

Gently Dar lay the carcass down underneath the shade of a tree. As Ciara continued to look at the faun she couldn't help the rising anger inside her. Without realizing it she had stood and had begun to make her way through the forest, somehow knowing where she was going. Dar took her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

His calm and soothing words seemed to break her from the spell of anger.

"I don't know," she answered, suddenly very tired.

He smiled.

"Come on, let's get moving."

She nodded and followed.

They didn't talk as they walked and Ciara could listen to the forest around her. She heard the chirping of birds and insects. She could smell the damp musk of rot and rebirth. After a while of listening to the forest around her she was soon able to pick out words or phrases from the woods around her.

_I must be going insane_._ I'm hearing voices now._

So as not to frighten the others she didn't say anything, only continued to walk, the whispers following her.

_New protector…_

_We are…no need to worry…_

…_Safer now…_

Every time they walked through a large patch of undergrowth the leaves and flowers seemed to reach for her. She began to feel dizzy and sick. But they needed to get wherever they were going, she wouldn't stop just because she didn't feel well. After another hour though, she felt even worse. She could barely see straight in front of her, she was falling behind. She was sure Ruh was pushing her from behind to keep her moving. Growling out comforting words to keep her moving. The world around her was fuzzy, and it was only getting fuzzier. She stopped, even though Ruh kept nudging her in the knees to keep moving. Ciara felt her legs go limp as she fell to the forest floor. She faintly recognized Ruh, lying down beside her before she blacked out.


End file.
